Automation systems for controlling a technical process or a technical system typically comprise a control apparatus (PLC) that is integrated in a group of a plurality of smart electrical devices. Smart electronic devices are those based on microprocessors, such as protective gear and control devices, motor protection devices, smart switches and voltage regulators, frequency converters, pressure and temperature transmitters, flowmeters and actuators.
It is known from the paper “FDI Device Integration—Best of Both Worlds”, atp edition June 2010, pages 16 to 19, to integrate field devices in an automation system using an FDI concept (Field Device Integration IEC-62769). This concept is based on providing information on the configuration of field devices in a device-specific FDI package. This FDI package comprises a fixed amount of information, consisting of a device definition, business logic, user interface description and user interface plug-ins. The device definition includes management information and the device model. The business logic describes the communication logic in relation to the device and is used to ensure consistency in the device model. The user interface description describes the representation of the device parameters and device functions. The user interface plug-ins are programmed components of interface portions for displaying the device parameters and functions.
When configuring field devices using EDD (electronic device description) technology IEC 61804, a device manufacturer provides an EDD that contains information on the communication with the device and on the business logic and the user interfaces, i.e. which data entry masks should be displayed to a user. For example, the business logic includes which parameters may be written and when.
In addition to a single user element having various parameters, graphs and other elements, new windows and dialogs can also be defined in the EDD. In this case, a host has certain freedoms and can, for example, simultaneously display a plurality of menus defined in the EDD in various windows, as well as user interfaces of various device entities.
The FDI technology uses these mechanisms of the EDD and provides the concept of the FDI package, which, in addition to an EDD, can also contain other information such as the user manual and UIPs (user interface plugins), which provide additional user interfaces in other technologies, e.g. .NET assemblies, which, unlike EDD-based user interfaces, consist of programmed code compiled in relation to a component.
FDI packages are usually created by device manufacturers and used by system producers to integrate and configure the field devices of various device manufacturers in a production system.
The FDI technology is based on a client-server architecture in which the field devices are managed centrally by a server—the FDI server. Stored on this FDI server are the configuration of the automation system, specifically the topology thereof, and the configuration of each field device within this topology. The field devices of the automation system are FDI clients.
To actually configure the automation system, a configuration tool capable of managing the configuration of the FDI clients is provided. Any changes are first written to the FDI server and transmitted from the FDI server to the relevant field device. In the process, FDI technology necessarily provides an established communication connection between the FDI client and the FDI server, which connection is generally configured as a network connection in the automation system.
Unfortunately, FDI technology does not support the offline configuration of the automation system or parts thereof.
However, offline configuration becomes important whenever an existing communication connection between the configuration tool and the FDI server cannot be produced and/or maintained. Specifically, however, this does not definitively apply to all the settings in a field device that are first implemented either directly by the manufacturer or during the operating time for maintenance and/or repairs. In addition, every engineering operation carried out when the FDI server is not yet initialized is affected, especially project engineering.